Einstein's Special Care Dentistry Unit Treats Vulnerable Population

It is 20 steps and one left turn from the entrance of the Rose F. Kennedy Center at Einstein to the receptionist's desk for the Special Care Dentistry Unit, but for Lloyd Vener it is a terrifying journey. He struggles against his mother and tries to pull away, crying and hooting. At the clinic door he throws himself to the floor in a desperate attempt to halt any further progress. Flailing, he tries to escape through the doorway.

For many people a visit to the dentist is unsettling, but for Lloyd and others like him, it is a terrifying, anxiety-filled battle against the unknown. Lloyd is 44 years old and has severe intellectual disabilities.

For more than half a century, the Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC) at Einstein has been serving New York's most vulnerable residents - children with intellectual and other disabilities. For Lloyd's mother, Anna Mae Vener, CERC's Special Care Dentistry Unit is the only place she knows where she can get him the care he needs. Lloyd has been going to the dental clinic since he was three years old.

Now a full grown man, at six-foot-one and 150 pounds, he still falls to the floor, kicks, makes strange vocalizations and resists his mother's attempts to calm him. "He's very strong," said Ms. Vener. "And his instinct is to resist."

For clinic staff members this is nothing out of the ordinary. The dentistry program is the only one of its kind in New York City - able to provide anesthesia through conscious sedation. This permits individuals with severe developmental and behavioral problems to receive the dental care they need...